The Swedish mercantile marine engaged both in the home and foreign trade on January 1, 1897, was as follows:—
| — | Sailing | Steam. | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Tonnage | No. | Tonnage | No. | Tonnage | |
| 20-100 tons | 1,200 | 60,443 | 269 | 13,498 | 1,469 | 73,941 |
| 100-500 ,, | 733 | 171,667 | 349 | 74,007 | 1,082 | 245,674 |
| 500-1,000 ,, | 70 | 46,947 | 105 | 74,335 | 175 | 121,282 |
| Above 1,000 tons | 10 | 11,798 | 33 | 44,124 | 43 | 55,922 |
| Total | 2,013 | 290,855 | 756 | 205,964 | 2,769 | 496,819 |
The port of Göteborg had the largest shipping in 1896—namely, 206
vessels of 82,702 tons; and next to it came Stockholm, possessing 194
vessels of a total burthen of 60,411 tons.
Vessels entered and cleared with cargoes and in ballast in 1896, as follows:—
| — | With Cargoes | In Ballast | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Tonnage | No. | Tonnage | No. | Tonnage | |
| Entered: | ||||||
| Swedish | 7,971 | 1,415,929 | 7,876 | 874,009 | 15,847 | 2,289,938 |
| Foreign | 4,302 | 1,290,228 | 12,592 | 3,471,258 | 16,894 | 4,761,486 |
| Total entered | 12,273 | 2,706,157 | 20,468 | 4,345,267 | 32,741 | 7,051,424 |
| Cleared: | ||||||
| Swedish | 11,613 | 2,041,693 | 4,271 | 288,051 | 15,884 | 2,329,744 |
| Foreign | 9,698 | 3,149,453 | 7,263 | 1,589,183 | 16,961 | 4,738,636 |
| Total cleared | 21,311 | 5,191,146 | 11,534 | 1,877,234 | 32,845 | 7,068,380 |
| Total entered & cleared 1896 | 33,584 | 7,897,303 | 32,002 | 6,222,501 | 65,586 | 14,119,804 |
| ,, ,, ,, 1895 | 31,125 | 7,897,303 | 28,271 | 5,070,350 | 59,396 | 12,383,747 |
| ,, ,, ,, 1894 | 31,957 | 7,313,397 | 28,154 | 4,945,345 | 60,111 | 12,689,093 |
Internal Communications.
In 1896 88,734 ships and boats passed through the canals of Sweden.
At the end of 1897 the total length of railways in Sweden was 6,350 miles, which 2,283 miles belonged to the State. The receipts in 1896 were 65,097,537 kronor, and expenses 36,471,958 kronor. The total cost of construction for the State railways to the end of 1896 was 324,060,946 kronor, and for private railways 310,374,351 kronor. The total number of passengers on the State railways in 1896 was 7,728,919; weight of goods carried on State railways, 4,968,360 tons; private railways 11,364,837 tons of goods, and 12,630,720 passengers.
The length of all the telegraph lines at the end of 1896 was 8,281 miles, and of wires 25,578 miles. Of the lines, 5,398 miles, and of the wire, 15,416 miles belonged to the State telegraph, and the remainder to the railways. There were 1,425 telegraph offices. The number of despatches sent in the year 1896 was 2,213,444, including 258,508 in transit. In 1896 there were 64,895 miles of wire and 49,411 instruments employed in the telephone service.
The Swedish Post Office carried 182,923,354 letters, post-cards, journals, &c., in the year 1896. The number of post-offices at the end of the year was 2,595. The total receipts of the Post Office in 1896 amounted to 9,035 371
